Affordable World Travel: How to Budget Your Trip

Many of us have, at one time or another, voiced one of the following sentiments:

"I can't afford to travel." "I have no money to see the world." "I just wish I could take off around the world but that'll never happen."

True, travel does cost money - but it may be less than you think with these four basic ways to stretch your funds and travel the world on a budget.

You can save money by cutting expenses

You can earn more money before you go

You can travel as cheaply as possible

You can make money while you travel

What follows are some savvy tips on saving money for a trip that will be helpful if you're a first-time traveler or if you're planning a long-term trip for the first time.

If you've already experienced what it’s like to save up for a trip, chances are you've tested one or more of these but if you still want to travel and aren't making ends meet, you might be in need of a refresher!

Why not me, right?

But before you do anything else, you need to know how much your trip will cost. I've put together a comprehensive resource page on how to plan your travel budget so read that first if you haven't yet got a $$ figure in mind for your trip.

You can also use this Budget My Trip printable planner to create a plan and answer the elusive question, “How much money to you need to travel?”

It’s always easier to budget when you know where you’re going and what you’ll be doing. You don’t have to stick to an itinerary but total spontaneity can hurt your wallet.

While preparing to travel long-term, I also did something that motivated me tremendously: I created a travel vision board, a huge wall of cardboard where I stuck pictures of places I wanted to see and scribbled sayings related to travel. I wrote up quotes on index cards that I pasted all over my walls. So whenever I was tempted to throw my hands up in despair and head off on a shopping spree (or ice cream binge), I saw my cards. The ones that reminded me that the reason I was suffering was because I wanted to TRAVEL. And that soon, I wouldn't have to worry about any work AT ALL!

Method #1: Save money for travel before you leave

When I started preparing my own round-the-world trip, the first thing I did was to look at my expenses and decide what I could cut. My criteria were simple: if I desperately NEEDED something - electricity, heating, food - it stayed on the list. If it was merely a pleasure, an addition, a desire - it got chopped off. I was brutal.

In my search for how to save money for travel, here are some of the things I did:

I moved, from a bright and airy apartment to a tiny studio beneath 24-hr church bells. I didn't get much sleep but I paid a third of my previous rent. I could also have moved into a smaller place and sublet the larger one, or gotten a roommate.

I sold my car and started taking the train to work. For me, that was a huge savings. If you must keep your car, at least try to cut costs by getting cheaper insurance or using it only when it's urgent.

I pretty much stopped going out in the evenings. I entertained at home (casseroles, not caviar!) and just begged off any occasion that would cost me money.

I brought my lunch to work, and - key to it all - I stopped drinking coffee at the office; with a ten-coffee a day habit, I'm sure this added an entire month to my travels.

I cut up my credit cards - literally. That helped me pay off debt, but more to the point, it prevented me from accumulating more (this was pre-Internet, when I couldn't compensate by spending it all online)

I got rid of my TV, my magazine subscriptions - anything that wasn't essential to survival. I spent a wonderful year hanging out in parks with friends, reading the stacks of books I hadn’t had time to, and writing. Amazing what can take the place of spending when you're not looking!

Method #2: Earn more money before your travels

It's not a painless process but if you need money to travel, the best place to get it is in your own pocket. If you have the opportunity to find a side hustle, grab it.

One way to do this is by getting a second, or a third job doing anything you can do. If you have a skill you haven’t used in a while, brush up on it. It can be in photography, massage therapy, knitting, cooking, or graphic design, anything that might help you find a few clients in your spare time. If you have no skills to brush up, there’s probably something out there you can do - landscaping help, dog-walking, coffee barista-ing, Ubering. It may be low-skill and low-paying, but in addition to your normal 9-5 and your extra savings, it can bring those travel dates closer.

Another approach - more lucrative but it takes longer to get off the ground - is to start an online career. It won’t just help you save money for your trip, it’ll help you make money while you travel (which is point #4 on this list). If you become location-independent now, it means you won’t have to go back home to save up for your next trip. You can just keep travelling.

If you’re a working professional, think about how you can apply your skills to remote work. Consider becoming a virtual assistant (remote administrative staff) and provide business support for companies across the globe. Do you write? Take Nomadic Matt’s travel writing course and start freelancing for magazines and newspapers.

Just browse through available jobs on Freelancer.com and see what’s out there: you might be surprised how many agencies are looking for ad hoc work that you are more than qualified to offer.

Method #3: Plan affordable world travel and save during your trip

I've written extensively about how to travel cheaply, even if you're almost broke. Here are a few more tips on budget solo travel based on my own experience and those of fellow travelers:

First things first: make a plan. That was #1 and #2.

Next, do your research: How much does it cost to travel Europe? Or Asia? Or the UK? I recommend checking out these city price guides by The Savvy Backpacker to get a general idea of what you’re looking at. It’s always a good idea to estimate high: expect the unexpected and have cash in your pocket to pay for it.

Here are some other ways to save on travel:

Before you leave, check if travel passes exist where you're going (rail, air, boat). You usually have to buy these before you leave.

See what discounts you can get. If you're a student or teacher, you can get special discounts. The same goes for senior citizens, members of certain groups or associations like AAA...

Find out if you qualify for discount cards - hostel cards, ISIC cards, senior cards - and get them before you go.

Develop a budget for the week - and try to live within its means. And write down what you spend. If you’re headed for long-term travel, divide the total amount in your travel around the world budget by the number of weeks you’ll be gone (I used to separate my week's cash into a small envelope - when I ran out, I stopped spending and if I was careful, I had something to carry over to the following week.)

Stay longer. You can often negotiate a cheaper room rate if you're staying more than a couple of nights. I’ve seen so many “stay 6 nights get the 7th free” deals.

Always make sure your hostel has a kitchen - and use it!

Shop at a local supermarket or better yet, at a local market. Don't go to restaurants unless they're cheaper than your homemade fare.

Don't drink or smoke - easier said than done perhaps but you can travel for days in many countries for the cost of a two-pack-a-day habit and a few drinks at the pub.

Take a local bus rather than a 'tourist' bus or a taxi. Even better, stay in shape and walk!

Travel at night. Sleeping on a train or bus will save you a night's accommodation.

In some super expensive countries - Scandinavia, anyone? - consider camping. It's often free, and in summer you could balance your stays in cheap accommodation and couchsurfing with a bit of camping.

Share a room with a fellow traveler when you can. In most countries, the cost of the room doesn't change if there are two of you. Even if it does, your share will still be cheaper than a single room. Just wait at the reception and when another solo woman checks in, ask if you can share to save travel money. You'll often get a 'yes'!

Look for shared rides or rooms on your hostel's bulletin board. Buy used goods - if you're heading into the mountains for a few days, a cheap sweater will do the trick.

Sign up for airline specials (they send out newsletters with their sales - you can sign up for free on most airline websites) and consider cheap accommodation alternatives, starting with Couchsurfing.

Sell your own goods once you're done with them. There's always a market for camping gear, used tools...

Don't buy new books - trade them with other backpackers. Many hostels have shelves for book exchanges. Otherwise sell your book to a second-hand bookshop - and buy your next read.

Method #4: Make money while you travel

This has been one of my preferred ways of staying on the road: the cost to travel for a year reduces significantly if you can offset it by making money on the road. I've done all sorts of things, from translations to teaching English to selling toilet seats - all with one goal in mind: to stay on the road as long as I could.

The world is a bit more sophisticated now and we have the internet, which is a gold mine for those of us who want to work without having to go to the office (see earlier point #2). All those online jobs are a great idea for funding your travels, and you’ll never be “unemployed.”

Even if online work isn’t your thing, you can make money on the road, in more ways than you can imagine! If you're drawing a blank, here are a few ideas of the kinds of jobs you can find as you travel, depending on your skill level.

A few final money-saving travel tips

However you take your money with you, use multiple methods: some cash, some cards, and spread out through your money belt, your pocket (just a little cash for incidentals) and your bag (a small amount for emergencies only) - if one thing gets lost, you'll still have the rest.

Let your bank know you're traveling. In Europe this isn't a big deal but I've had my US card flagged because the bank was wondering why it was being used in Dubai.

In many rural areas, especially in the developing world, you'll need cash. You can walk many miles before finding an ATM so be forewarned.

If you have any tips for saving money to travel, please share them below!

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